


Bringing Up Rhakam

by glafkes



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Adoption, Canon Compliant, Family, Ficlet, Friendship, Gen, Healing, No Romance, No Sex, Recovery, Redemption, The Borg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23186959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glafkes/pseuds/glafkes
Summary: Hugh catches up with the adoptive parent of an ex-borg child he helped de-assimilate.
Kudos: 38





	Bringing Up Rhakam

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the prime universe around about the year 2387, halfway between the end of DS9 and the beginning of PIC.
> 
> Tagged as canon compliant because it does not contradict any known canon at the time of writing, although it does make some assumptions and inventions about the characters' offscreen lives - well it would hardly be fanfic if it didn't, right?

It was the end of a tiring day meeting various dignitaries on Bajor, but Hugh had one more task to perform, albeit a more pleasant one. This would be the last occasion for some time when he could contact Cardassia via subspace without a huge lag that made conversation impossible. He browsed for the right name in his communication history, then hit the call button.

Almost a full minute went by, and Hugh began to wonder if he'd called at an inconvenient time, although onscreen data indicated it should now be early evening in Lakarian province. Eventually. the face of a middle-aged Cardassian man appeared, a warm smile on his lips.

"Hugh!" the Cardassian exclaimed "How lovely to see you again."

"Good evening Mr Garak" said Hugh.

"Oh please," Garak tilted his head forward "it's just Garak."

"Of course," replied Hugh. "How are you this evening?"

"Oh, I'm quite well thank you, but I'm sure you didn't call just to ask after my health."

"That's correct" said Hugh. "How is Rhakam getting along?"

"Oh that young man is doing very well," said Garak with a broad smile. "He's settled into my little household marvellously."

"That's wonderful to hear," said Hugh, smiling back. "And the nerve damage around his occular implant?"

"It seems to be improving. As you know, my husband is a doctor, so you can be sure he is getting excellent care at home."

Hugh nodded. "I was so worried when I first worked with Rhakam. It looked as if he might not survive the de-assimilation process. Cardassian physiology has some unusual features that complicated the deactivation of his implants. It was extremely rewarding seeing him through his recovery, and helping him on his start towards a new life."

"And what a life it is turning out to be!" said Garak with the air of a proud father. "We've even enrolled him at the local school. We didn't think they'd take him. After all, he was assimilated too young to have had any formal education, but the knowledge that was uh... implanted in him puts him well ahead of his peers in many areas. But it seems to be doing him good to interact with other teenagers. He's made one or two friends already, although they do find it rather odd that his name is a number."

Hugh grinned. "I suppose he's told you the story of how he chose the name?"

"Oh yes," said Garak "We've heard all about his hero, the incredible Seven of Nine, and how he wants to be just like her. Still, it's nice that he chose the Cardassian word for seven."

"Indeed," replied Hugh "Not every ex-borg wants to reconnect with their pre-assimilation heritage, and many of us experience too much shame and stigma to embrace ex-borg culture. Rhakam seems to have managed both."

"He certainly does," said Garak "And if I might add, there are more than a few similarities between our two peoples. We are, after all, both coming to terms with the fact that we have done some dreadful things in the past. And we must both learn to accept change whilst never losing sight of who we are."

Hugh's smile faded. "I understand your point," he said after a pause "But with all due respect, Rhakam cannot be held responsible for anything he did whilst part of the collective. I don't think the same can be said for many Cardassians who were part of the old regime."

If Garak was discomforted by Hugh's comment, he did not show it. "Perhaps not," he responded "perhaps not."

Hugh felt the need to change the subject, but the next question on his mind was rather close to the current one. "I wanted to ask," he said "Have you had any luck tracking down his biological family?"

Garak shook his head "None. I'm afraid a lot of records were lost during the Dominion war, along with a great number of lives. I think Rhakam will have to accept that he is quite likely to be an orphan. That would at least give him one thing in common with many other Cardassian children in this province." Garak trailed off, but then in a brighter tone said "Well, enough of my musings, I suppose you'll be wanting to have a talk with the young man himself."

"I would like that, yes," said Hugh, smiling again.

"I'll go and tell him you're on the line," said Garak "He's busy playing some old earth board game about spies with my husband. It seems to be a new obsession for the two of them. Frankly I can't see the appeal. Anyway, I suppose he'll be able to tear himself away long enough to speak to you."

Hugh watched as Garak stepped away from the screen and walked out of the camera's field of view. Garak was certainly an eccentric individual, and the most charitable description you could give of his past was "chequered". In fact, a lot of Hugh's contacts in the Federation had been strongly against his choosing Garak as an adoptive parent for a former borg child. But Hugh had seen something in the Cardassian, a genuine capacity for caring and understanding, that made him look past the reservations of his associates. And perhaps there was some truth in what Garak had said about Cardassians being like ex-borg, at least, in the case of Garak himself. Garak's history revealed him to have committed some heinous acts in a relatively distant past, but it also revealed in Garak a willingness to put things right, to be a better person than the one his people had programmed him to be. And that was something Hugh could fully understand.


End file.
